Luigi, we couldn’t ask for more
Vancouver Magazine names 2015 restaurant award winners
It goes to show you how enslaved we’ve become to laidback dining excellence in the city.
The unpretentious Ask for Luigi, in the most povertystricken part of the city, picked up four awards (restaurant of the year, best casual, best new, best casual Italian) at the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards on Tuesday.
“Every plate, no matter how small, is given exacting attention,” one judge said, on Ask for Luigi’s prominence. “The results are a real statement of focus and balance.”
Amazing casual dining is possibly the only silver lining from the recent recession. Chefs like Ask for Luigi’s J.C. Poirier, who might have aspired to run or work in marble-floored establishments, scaled down ambitions to focus on affordable venues and found themselves having way too much fun.
The awards guide us through another year of dining at restaurants and reward the restaurants that rise to the top in a sea of competitors. These, then, are the 2015 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Award winners. And staff at Ask for Luigi had better cancel all vacation plans. Restaurant of the year: Ask for Luigi Best upscale restaurant: Hawksworth (gold), Blue Water Cafe (silver), La Quercia (bronze) Best casual restaurant: Ask for Luigi (gold), Farmer’s Apprentice (silver), L’Abattoir (bronze) Best new restaurant: Ask for Luigi (gold), Cinara (silver), Chambar (bronze) Best upscale Italian: Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill and Enoteca (gold), La Quercia (silver), CinCin (bronze) Best casual Italian: Ask for Luigi (gold), Campagnolo Roma (silver), Bufala (bronze) Best upscale French: Le Crocodile (gold), Bacchus at the Wedgewood (silver), La Regalade (bronze) Best casual French: Tableau Bistro Bar (gold), Au Comptoir (silver), Bistro Wagon Rouge (bronze) Best upscale Chinese: Dynasty Seafood (gold), Chef Tony Seafood (silver), Yue Delicacy (bronze) Best casual Chinese: Bao Bei (gold), Ningtu (silver), Dinesty Dumpling House (bronze) Best dim sum: Chef Tony Seafood (gold), Golden Paramount (silver), Dynasty Seafood (bronze) Best upscale Japanese: Zest and Tojo’s (tied for gold), Miku (bronze) Best casual Japanese: Kingyo (gold), Zakkushi (silver), Kishimoto (bronze) Best noodle house: Marutama Ra-men (gold), Motomachi Shokudo and Hokkaido Ramen Santouka (tied for silver) Best Indian: Vij’s (gold), My Shanti (silver), Rangoli (bronze) Best Thai: Maenam (gold), Longtail Kitchen (silver), Bob Likes Thai Food (bronze) Best Vietnamese: Phnom Penh (gold), Mr. Red Cafe and Au Petit Cafe (tied for silver) Best Korean: Hanwoori (gold), Damso Modern Korean (silver), Seoul Doogbaegi (bronze) Best other Asian: Amay’s House (gold), Penang Delight Cafe (silver), Banana Leaf (bronze) Best casual chain: Cactus Club (gold), Hapa Izakaya (silver), Earls (bronze) Best seafood: Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar (gold), Yew Seafood and Bar (silver), Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar (bronze) Best pizzeria: Nicli Antica (gold), Pizzeria Farina and Via Tevere (tied for silver) Best steak house: Hy’s Encore (gold), Gotham Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar (silver), The Roof at Black and Blue (bronze) Best of the Americas: Tacofino Commissary (gold), La Taqueria (silver), Re-Up BBQ (bronze) Best food cart: Tacofino (gold), Vij’s Railway Express (silver), Yolk’s (bronze) Best coffee house: Revolver (gold), Timbertrain Coffee Roasters (silver), Forty Ninth Parallel (bronze) Best downtown: Cactus Club Coal Harbour (gold), Cafe Medina (silver), Tableau Bar Bistro (bronze) Best West End: Kingyo (gold), Nook (silver), Buck Stop (bronze) Best Yaletown: Homer St. Cafe and Bar (gold), Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill and Enoteca (silver), Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar (bronze) Best Gastown and Chinatown: Bao Bei (gold), L’Abattoir (silver), Wildebeest (bronze) Best West Side: Bufala (gold), Farmer’s Apprentice (silver), Maenam (bronze) Best East Side: Via Tevere (gold), Bistro Wagon Rouge (silver), Campagnolo Roma and Mr. Red Cafe (tied for bronze) Best North Shore: La Regalade (gold), Canyon (silver), Blue Eyed Mary’s (bronze) Best Richmond: Gudrun (gold), Kiriri (silver), Hoi Tong Seafood (bronze) Best Whistler: Araxi (gold), Bearfoot Bistro (silver), Alta Bistro (bronze) Best Victoria: Stage (gold), Brasserie L’ecole (silver), Camille’s (bronze) Best other Vancouver Island: Wolf in the Fog (gold), The Pointe at the Wickaninnish Inn (silver), Unsworth Restaurant (bronze) Best Okanagan: Waterfront Wines (gold), Salted Brick (silver), Bouchons (bronze) Best winery/vineyard dining: Miradoro (gold), Joy Road Catering Vineyard Kitchen (silver), Old Vines Restaurant (bronze) Chef of the year: Vikram Vij, Vij’s Bartender of the year: Lauren Mote, Uva Pastry chef of the year: Thomas Haas, Thomas Haas Patisserie Sommelier of the year: Bryant Mao, Hawksworth Lifetime achievement award: David Aisenstat, Keg restaurants Mentorship award: Bruno Marti, retired Green award: Ned Bell, Four Seasons Hotel